Once the kids go to school and leave the toddler years, family responsibilities become fairly predictable. The kids get on a bus every morning at a certain time and return back at another set time. In between that time, I have a blank slate of time to get things done. Sure, there are occasional sick days or parent-teacher conferences, but for the most part, I can get a lot of work done. Things get out of sorts at the beginning of September when school starts up, right before the winter holidays and now, June.

Yesterday morning, I got a chunk of research done on the politics of preschools, but the rest of the week was spent flying between visiting schools and running errands and making summer plans.

The calendar is God right now. Both boys have a dozen end-of-the-year activities — Jonah’s middle school graduations, several class trips and field days for both kids, Jonah’s sport matches, and some special ed meetings for Ian.

I’m planning the summer schedule. Ian is all set for July, but needs some activities for August. For the first time, Jonah won’t be going to a day camp, but will be working at one. Somehow I have to squeeze in pre-high school sports and music lessons. I need to have him booked up, so he doesn’t spend the entire day annoying me with hours and hours of Skyrim-play.

There’s the constant effort to keep the house standing up. Houses want to crumble, and it takes work to keep that from happening. Our back porch is cracked and needs replacement, so I’ve been talking with landscapers. One guy wanted to install an enormous stone monument in our backyard. The other guy told me to call in another professional to first repair the water damage to the shingles.

The CSA vegetables are back in town and Steve’s blood pressure is too high, so I’m back to cooking healthy stuff. No burgers allowed.

 

I have exactly thirty seconds  to take pictures between finishing dinner and ravenous boys devouring it. 30 seconds isn’t enough time to properly photograph and style the food. How do the food bloggers do it?

A couple of days ago, I got stuck in traffic in town and wasn’t home in time for Ian’s school bus. Jonah was frantically texting me to bring a forgetten premission slip to school. Not only did he need something, but he wasn’t home to collect Ian. Even with some obnoxious Jersey driving, I was late. Luckily, the bus driver waited for me and didn’t take Ian back to school.

June is thick with good stuff. I sometimes get frustrated, because I can’t do everything. Not enough writing is happening this week. But it’s all good.